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ERIC CAPLAN, Ph.D

Eric Caplan is once and future historian of American psychiatry. Regarding the “once” he earned his PhD from the University of Michigan (1994) where he studied with David Hollinger. Following completion of his doctorate, he joined the University of Chicago as a William Rainey Harper Instructor of Social science. At Chicago Eric was one of the youngest and only non-tenure track faculty member ever to win the Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. In addition, he published a well-received but little-read book, Mind Games: American Culture and the Birth of Psychotherapy (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998, 2001). After which he vowed never to write another boring book. Regarding the 20 year hiatus between his “once” and “future” career as historian, Eric abandoned his academic career so that Elise (his wife of more than 30 years) and their two daughters, Yael and Naomi, could grow up with some modicum of financial stability to say nothing of a decent zip code. During that time, Eric did a number of things before launching a successful consulting practice focusing on drug development with a particular emphasis on molecules affecting the central nervous system. Regarding the “future” he is currently engaged in two projects, Do No Harm. Osheroff v. Chestnut Lodge and the Future of Psychiatry and an as yet untitled biography of arguably the most significant civil rights attorney of the past century, Philip J. Hirschkop, with whom Eric developed a relationship while working on the Osheroff book.

Eric lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife and best friend Elise. They met in Ann Arbor, Michigan and have been together for almost 35 years.